Intelligence Transformation Manager

Cooley•Santa Monica, NY

About The Position

Cooley is seeking an Intelligence Transformation Manager to join its Data team. The role supports the firm's goal of becoming a leader in the digital practice of law by leading a team of Intelligence Transformation Analysts embedded in the firm's Intelligence functions. The team studies how manual intelligence work is performed, identifies opportunities for automation or transformation, and connects Intelligence functions with the firm's technical delivery teams. It documents business needs and explores potential solutions through structured requirements and lightweight prototypes for the Data Products team to develop into production solutions. The manager partners with technical delivery teams, leads the identification and prioritization of transformation opportunities, oversees an automation and transformation roadmap, and leads delivery of the data skills and reskilling program. The role also maintains documentation for governance and reporting, escalates risks and resource gaps, and supervises, develops, and retains Intelligence Transformation Analysts. The position requires 5+ years of applicable experience, hands-on SQL proficiency, experience collaborating with technical teams and managing automation or transformation opportunities, and experience designing or delivering training.

Requirements

After orientation at Cooley LLP, demonstrate proficiency in Microsoft Office, iManage, and other firm applications.
Ability to work extended and/or weekend hours as required.
Ability to travel as required.
At least 5 years of applicable experience in legal intelligence, competitive intelligence, knowledge management, or a related intelligence or information services role, with technical fluency in data analysis.
Hands-on SQL proficiency sufficient to query, analyze, and validate data from structured data environments and review and coach analyst-level SQL work.
Demonstrated experience partnering with technical or engineering teams, including familiarity with Agile or Scrum delivery ceremonies and backlog management.
Experience identifying and scoping automation or process-transformation opportunities and building business cases for them in an intelligence or information services context.
Experience designing or delivering training, upskilling, or reskilling programs for a team.
Strong intelligence-domain expertise, technical curiosity, and commitment to building data and analytics capability.
Ability to build effective relationships and translate between intelligence stakeholders and technical delivery teams.
Strong analytical skills for evidence-based identification and prioritization of transformation and automation opportunities.
Strong people leadership, teaching, coaching, program management, and backlog management skills.
Excellent attention to detail and strong judgment.
Ability to handle and maintain confidentiality regarding firm information, projects, and client data.
Ability to lead through influence, develop talent, and work collaboratively with a high level of professionalism.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree.
Supervisory experience.
Experience with legal research or intelligence platforms such as Research Monitor, EOS, Litera Foundation, Westlaw, or LexisNexis.
Working familiarity with Databricks, data lake concepts, or comparable cloud data platform environments.
Experience with matter or experience management data, or with resource and vendor management in a law firm context.
Experience using AI-assisted tools or lightweight prototyping approaches to explore automation candidates before handing them to a technical build team.
Data Management Body of Knowledge (DAMA-DMBOK), Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP), comparable data management certification, or Agile or Scrum certification.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary subject matter expert liaison to technical delivery teams, ensuring Matter Intelligence and Resource Management domain knowledge and requirements are represented in planning, prioritization, and delivery.
Translate business, legal, and operational requirements from Intelligence functions into structured specifications for the Data Products team, and explain technical constraints and capabilities to Intelligence stakeholders.
Participate in relevant delivery ceremonies as the Intelligence subject matter expert representative and escalate strategic or resourcing questions to the Associate Director as needed.
Build and maintain working relationships with Data Engineering & Platform, Platform Governance & Quality, and Data Products teams.
Lead structured, ongoing reviews of business-as-usual activity to identify automation and transformation candidates.
Build and maintain a prioritized opportunity backlog based on criteria including volume, manual effort, error rate, technical feasibility, and legacy-tooling dependencies.
Direct analysts in developing evidence-based business cases for automation and transformation candidates, communicating value, effort, and dependencies.
Own a rolling transformation and automation roadmap, track completed, in-flight, and queued work, report progress to the Associate Director, and flag risks or blockers.
Work with analysts to explore automation approaches, including lightweight prototyping and platform-capability investigation, before handing well-specified requirements to the Data Products team.
Identify tooling that could be retired, consolidated, or integrated, working with the Resource Vendor and Content Manager and the Matter Intelligence Manager to assess operational impact.
Lead delivery of the data skills and reskilling program defined by the Associate Director and Director, Intelligence & Client Services, translating target skills into a practical curriculum and training plan.
Deliver or coordinate training sessions and on-the-job stretch assignments, and track progress against the reskilling plan, identifying gaps and adjusting content and pace.
Maintain documentation of the transformation backlog, automation decisions, and reskilling progress for Data Council reporting and governance.
Escalate transformation-program risks, blockers, and resourcing gaps to the Associate Director in a timely manner.
Lead, develop, and retain Intelligence Transformation Analysts; set expectations, provide regular feedback, and support development of technical fluency and intelligence-domain depth.
Supervise and mentor direct reports, monitor work hours and compliance with firm and department policies, manage staffing coverage, and review and process time logs and time-off requests.
Support business professional development and continued educational opportunities.
Participate with the immediate supervisor and central HR in hiring, performance appraisals, counseling, termination, and other employee lifecycle events.
Perform other duties as assigned or required.

Benefits

Competitive compensation.
Medical benefits and a health savings account with applicable medical plans.
Dental insurance.
Vision insurance.
Health and/or dependent care flexible spending accounts.
Pre-tax commuter benefits.
Life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment coverage.
Long-term care coverage.
Backup care for children and/or adults and other parental support benefits.
Firm-paid life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment coverage, long-term disability, and short-term medical benefits for benefited employees.
21 days of paid time off each year.
10 paid holidays each year.
Generous parental leave.
Fertility benefits.
Detailed benefits orientation for new employees.